They are also known as the Black Ctenosaur (pronounced Teen -oh- soar).  Ticos call them, Iguana Negra or black iguana.

The black iguana is much like his better known cousin, the green iguana, in many ways.  They both love to hang out in trees to catch the rays.  Or on a roof as with this iguana.

Both iguanas have spikes on their backs and can use their tails as whips if you get too close. They lay eggs in the ground and can live in many different habitats.  During the dry months, both iguanas eat lots of flowers and fruit.  During the wet season, both types of iguanas eat leaves, but Ctenosaurs also eat meat.  That’s right, green iguanas are strictly vegetarian.  Black iguanas are omnivores eating crabs, eggs, bugs, rodents, bats, and even other lizards with their salad!

What is this guy up to?

There seems to be no leaves on this tree, only flowers.  That must mean it is the dry season.

Oh look, he is climbing up that thin branch!

Maybe he is going to go and smell the flowers.  They look so pretty together.

I thought I counted more flowers.  Where did they go?

Hey!  You naughty iguana you ate all of the flowers!

Well, that was yummy.

Find out more about Costa Rican black iguanas here:

http://www.anywherecostarica.com/flora-fauna/reptile/black-ctenosaur

Every morning I would watch the clouds rise from the valleys into the sky.

And every evening settle down into the valleys for a long rest.

Many of the mountains were very high.  These ones rise above palm plantations.

The trees were amazing.  I tried to hug a few, but they were too big.

Many of the trees have enormous buttress roots.  They help hold up the massive trees.  People used this strategy when building huge buildings before they were built with metal and concrete.

Is this where chocolate comes from?

Not only can the canopy be delicious, but also fun. The animals climb along the massive branches in the dark canopy.  We prefer to fly, zzzzzzzzzzip!

Down from the emergent layer in the sun into the dark unknown.

Under the canopy in the understory and forest floor, it sure is dark!  No wonder baby trees take so long to grow big.

Down here there is plenty of water.  Just not enough sun for many plants to grow on the forest floor.

Speaking of the sun, I think it is time it went to bed.  All of this exploring has worn me out.

Good night!

Curator and Wildlife Educator

Reptiles Alive Name: RattlerJen

Hissstory: RattlerJen spent her early years leading her terrified mother  around the reptile house at the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Her mother kept her eyes covered the entire time.  Jen also spent many hours after school exploring the desert around her home for snakes and lizards.  She was very careful not to bring any home, however.

RA Diet: It is well known that RattlerJen will eat nearly anything.  Except canned peas, those are just gross.

Natural Diet: Jen is a bit of a foodie. Her favorite foods are flavorful cuisines from around the world.  Sushi, curry, linguine, pho, steaks, ribs, gyros, and especially green chile cheeseburgers. Her favorite foods are cooked by her awesome husband, who cures and smokes his own sausages and bacon from local free-range, humanely raised, organic, heritage animals and includes herbs from her very own garden.

Range: RattlerJen has been away from New Mexico for over a decade now, but she still considers it her native home.   She is completely enamored with the DC area as it has everything.  (Although she believes you can have your traffic DC)

Habitat: You might encounter RattlerJen performing a show at a school or special event.  She can also be commonly seen driving the reptiles to shows.  When not in public view, RattlerJen spends time working on the Reptiles Alive website, the Reptile Ranger Certificates, and assists with managing the office and the animal collection.

Size: Fluctuating.  (See natural diet for further details)

Lifespan: Depending on bacon intake, she could live for 80 years or more.

Reproduction: Early on in their dating relationship, RattlerJen’s husband lost track of her while on a hike in the desert. He found her standing on the side of the trail with a live rattlesnake’s tail in one hand with the rest of it happily looped over a branch held in her other hand.  She was talking to it as if it were an adorable puppy while moving it to a safe place off the trail.  From that point on, he realized he was not allowed to be afraid of anything.

Conservation: Before coming to Reptiles Alive!, RattlerJen had a huge amount of experience working with reptiles and other animals. She worked as keeper and educator at the American International Rattlesnake Museum, home to the largest collection of live rattlesnakes in the world.

In 2000, she transferred to Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay, Florida. While at Busch Gardens, she gained experience caring for a variety of animals including: crocodiles, giant snakes, giant tortoises, and Komodo dragons. In 2001 she moved to Northern Virginia and became the curator at the Reston Zoo.

Cool Facts: Most of RattlerJen’s free time is spent hiding in the woods from search and rescue dogs.  She is a member of a wilderness search and rescue group as a dog handler.  Jen is training her dog Grom to find lost people in the woods.

Did you know she also is training many of the animals at Reptiles Alive too?  Gary, the plated lizard, knows how to sit up and beg.  Splash, the water dragon, is learning to do her taxes.

Last Saturday morning, March 20th, I packed up the Reptiles Alive van full of great animals including Sunshine the python, Logan the Nile monitor lizard, and B.A. the alligator.  We  drove across the Chesapeake Bay down to Pocomoke City, MD – home to the Delmarva Discovery Center.

Pocomoke is a historic Eastern Shore town located right on the Pocomoke River. Last year, the awesome new Delmarva Discovery Center (DDC) opened to the public. The DDC features exhibits that tell the story of the Delmarva’s natural and cultural history.

As we set up and got ready, we had a huge crowd excitedly waiting to see the first show.

We started each of the three shows that day with a couple of animals native to the Eastern Shore: Lucky our black rat snake and T Rex the snapping turtle.

Then we featured an animal from the other side of our planet: the Australian blue tongue skink, Mystique. Next, we learned why we should all be really grateful there are no mommy pizzas when we met Logan the Nile monitor lizard.

The alligator B.A. (which stands for “Bad Attitude” helped us learn alligator love songs. Last but definitely not least, we met Sunshine, our albino Burmese python. The audience, as usual, went wild for Sunshine.

Big thanks go to the Delmarva Discovery Center for hosting this fun reptile festival. We are hoping to make this an annual event, so start planning your trip to Pocomoke City for next year.

[kaltura-widget uiconfid="534" entryid="0_w5i5xzy3" width="400" height="330" addpermission="" editpermission="" /]

In September, the number of shows we do becomes much more reasonable.  Fall festivals and birthday parties still fill our weekends, and scout meetings eat up our nights, but the weekday school programs are just getting started, so we have time during the day to catch up on all the office work we couldn’t get to during the summer.

As soon as the school year starts, our phone starts ringing and our email inbox fills with requests for school assemblies, classroom visits, and after school classes.  Since we work as animal keepers in addition to working in the office, there are many times that the phone starts ringing right when we are opening the door to a large python or getting ready to feed an alligator – YIKES.  There are even times when we answer the phone and take an animal with us, so while we are talking to you, we might have a snake in our other hand.

Most people only think about the shows they see us perform, but a lot of work goes on “behind the scenes” to get ready for your show.  And don’t worry – we will be sure that none of the animals eat the paperwork for your booking.

“What is the name of the lizard we met in class?”

Well Sujan, the Sudan Plated Lizard has TWO names!

The lizard we met is named Gerrhosaurus major, or “Gary” for short.  Why such a long name?



All animals, rocks, plants, even types of clouds are given a special name called their “scientific name.”  This helps scientists put things in groups with things that are all alike.

For example:

Tree frogs that have sticky feet may be put in one group while frogs that have webbed feet and live in the water are put into another group.

They are grouped by the type of feet they have.

You can have fun doing an experiment in your own house!

Think of different ways you can group things in your house.  Some ideas may be.  Arranging things by color, size, or what it’s made of.

Choose a way to group things, then write down the different categories of groups.

Say you chose to group things by color.  Your categories will be different colors; red, blue, green, yellow..etc.

Then walk around your house and put objects in your house in its correct category.  (Yellow things go in the “Yellow” category.)  Write it down.

For extra fun, do this experiment with other people in your house.  Have them choose a different way to group things.  Compare your lists at the end!

You will find things that may be hard to put in one group.  (maybe it’s blue & yellow)  You can only put it in one, that means you have to decide!

It is lots of fun to be a scientist that classifies things!  They are called Taxonomists.

A reptile is a vertebrate animal, they have a bony skeleton just like you and me, breathe through lungs, are covered in scales, are ectothermic, and typically lay eggs.

Cold-blooded

Uromastyx basking in the sun

Reptiles are ectothermic (exothermic) meaning, “outside temperature.” This means the animal’s internal temperature changes with that of the environment. If it is 73 degrees outside, the inside of the snake is 73 degrees. Mammals are homothermic, meaning same temperature all the time. Humans are typically 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit all of the time.

Reptile bodies cannot function when it is too cold or too hot. They rely on their surroundings to maintain their body’s preferred temperature. A cold lizard will bask on a rock in the sun, then move to the shade after he becomes too hot.

Types of reptiles

There are over 8,000 kinds of reptiles split into four groups.

1. Chelonia – turtles, tortoises

2. Crocodilia – alligators, caimans, crocodiles, gavials

3. Rhynchocephalia – tuatara


4. Squamata – amphisbaenians, lizards, snakes

Scientists do not separate lizards and snakes into two groups, but list them under the group “squamata.” Snakes are considered specialized versions of lizards. Why must the scientists be confusing?

Compare and Contrast: Snakes Vs Lizards

All snakes are legless, but some lizards are legless too!

All snakes have no ears, but some lizards lack ears as well.

All snakes have no eyelids, but some lizards also have no eyelids.

Snakes have forked tongues, but so do many lizards.

Confused yet? Don’t worry, from now on we will discuss snakes and lizards as separate groups. Whew! (and you were worried)

Chelonians – Turtles

Inside a box turtle

There are over 300 different kinds of turtles. Sea turtles fly gracefully through the warm oceans of the world with giant flippers, tortoises lumber across the land with strong elephant like legs, and terrapins paddle with webbed feet in freshwater habitats.

A turtle’s ribs and backbone together form the turtle’s hard shell. It is covered in skin just like your bones are, a turtle’s shell is inside its body.

Sea turtles can hold their breath for over an hour by using the powers of their amazing heart. The heart blocks off blood to the lungs and allows the blood to travel to only parts of the body needing oxygen while under water!

The giant galapagos tortoise, aldabra tortoise, and african spurred tortoise can live to be over 170 years old!

Crocodilia – Crocodiles and family

With beautiful smiles and big strong tails, crocodilians number over 20 different species including crocodiles, alligators, caimans, and gharials. Gharials have very long, narrow snouts studded with sharp teeth.

crocodile

Crocodiles and alligators are a bit more difficult to tell apart. Alligators typically have broader snouts and straight rows of ridges down their backs. Crocodiles have narrower snouts and irregular rows of ridges on their back. When a crocodile’s mouth is closed, its fourth tooth on the lower jaw fits into a notch on the outside of the upper jaw.

There are only two different kinds of alligators; the american alligator and the very endangered chinese alligator.

Crocodilians are very shy creatures feeding on insects, snails, shellfish, frogs, turtles, fish, mammals, and birds. They rarely want to be near any human. We taste terrible!

Osteoderms on a gators back

The eyes and nostrils are located on top of their head to allow the animal to see and breathe above the water’s surface. They are covered in bony armor to protect them from both their prey and predators. It’s almost like having two skeletons!

We still have much to learn from crocodiles. We have found they are immune to some diseases, heal quickly, are intelligent, and are wonderful parents. Alligators even help other animals survive during droughts by digging water holes with their huge body. Sadly, most crocodilian species are in danger of becoming extinct!

Squamates – Lizards

World's smallest lizard

Lizards are the most diverse group of reptiles. They come in a huge variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. Lizards are split into two clades or groups, the Iguania and Scleroglossa (meaning hard tongue.) Some lizards can grow over 10 feet long like the komodo dragon and Salvadores monitor lizard. Others, like the Jaragua lizard are able to curl up on a dime.

A typical lizard has external ears, four legs, claws, eyes with eyelids, and tails. Scientists have found that lizards can see color, and some can even see in the ultraviolet wavelengths. Excellent eyesight allows the creatures to snatch bugs out of the air and to see spectacular mating displays.

Frilled lizard

A lizards sense of smell and taste is very actute. Monitor lizards even have a forked tongue like a snake to enhance smelling ability.

Lizards have found remarkable ways to survive. Many are covered in spines, some can stick to trees, most are able to lose their tails, others change colors, a few glide out of trees, and one species can even run across water!

What scientists have learned from lizards has been astounding. They are an amazing group of animals.

Squamates – Snakes

No other animal has been both revered and reviled more than the snake. They are the most widely feared and misunderstood animal on the planet. Very few kinds of snakes are able to harm people.

These slender reptiles have no legs, ears, or eyelids. Snakes are dry, not slimy as scales are made of keratin, the same thing your hair and fingernails are made of.

Madagascan Hognose snake sticking out his tongue

A snake’s forked tongue cannot sting or hurt you. A snake that is constantly flicking out it’s tongue is simply interested in its surroundings “sniffing’ like a dog. Chemicals or “scents” stick to the tongue as it waves it around. Then the scent laden tongue is stuck into the neuron studded Jacobson’s organ, a small hole in the roof of the mouth, sending instant messages about what it smells to its brain.

Central American Rattlesnake see his heatpits?

Remarkable organs known as heat sensing pits light up the night for some lucky snakes. Rattlesnakes, vipers, copperheads, boas, and pythons are able to distinguish in vivid detail differences in temperature allowing them to navigate and catch prey in complete darkness.

All snakes are carnivores. To catch prey, a snake must either bite it with fangs and inject venom, or use its body to subdue the animal using strong muscles. Swallowing the food is a challenge for an animal with no arms or legs! Their jaws are not strong enough to chew their food. Tiny curved teeth hook on to the food item, and allow it to only go in one direction, down the throat!

A snake’s head may appear too small to swallow many food items. Jaws of these animals have a hinge allowing them to open wide. The lower jaw includes two jaw bones connected in the middle with a streatchy ligament, so the mouth can open wide sideways as well. One side of the jaw holds the prey while the other side of the jaw slides forward, walking the food further into their mouth.

The largest snakes in the world are the anaconda and reticulated python, both able to grow over 30 feet long and weighing several hundred pounds. Jewels of this blue planet, snakes come in every color of the rainbow rivaling tropical fish and birds in their beauty.

Rhynchocephalia – Tuatara

Tuatara

A living fossil, the tuatara is an unusual reptile unchanged since the days of the dinosaurs. Although they look much like lizards, tuatara have different skulls, teeth, and pelvic bones. Living only in New Zealand in protected islands, these reptiles prefer lower temperatures than other reptiles. Tuataras live for a long time, probably over 100 years!

Unfortunately, they are highly endangered due to humans, habitat destruction, and introduced predators.

Scientists, naturalists, and wildlife enthusiasts keep journals to help them remember what they have seen. Many things may happen when you are out in the wild. The purpose of the journal is to record your observations for later reading. If you do a good job, you may discover exciting patterns emerging. These patterns are what usually lead to new discoveries about the world around us.

Selecting a Journal

I have found that small, unlined sketchbooks with a hard cover work best. The journal should be small enough to fit in a daypack, but large enough you can draw pictures and comfortably write in it.

Many people write in two journals at a time. I carry a journal with me in my backpack that I can jot down quick notes and illustrations while I’m out in the field. This journal tends to get dirty and a bit beat up. I write fast since I expect to be the only one reading my backpack journal.

I keep a second, nicer journal at home. After my outing into the wild, I transfer all of my notes from my backpack journal into my nice journal at home. Good journals may be found at: large bookstores, art stores, or museums.

What do I write in a Journal?

This is the fun part. What you actually write in your journal depends on what you are interested in.

You might like reptiles or other animals, plants, rocks, weather, or even the stars in the night sky. Any of these are great topics for you to write in your journal.

If you are interested in what certain animals eat, you may sit for long periods of time watching a particular animal and recording what it eats. You may draw pictures of the food items or even press leaves from the plants they are eating in the pages of your journal. You may be interested in the different animals seen during a hike. In this case it is more important writing down information you can use later to identify the animals.

You may be surprised what you have already forgotten by the time you have gotten home. The key to a good journal is in the details. Not only write in detail about what you are interested in, but also the time of day, the temperature, the weather, and specifics about the habitat that day. Insignificant details jotted down at the time may be the essential clue to an answer you have been searching for.

You also may include information you learn about animals or nature while visiting a zoo or nature center. A trip to the zoo is a great way to see lots of animals from all over the world and a trip to a nature center is a great way to see animals from your own neighborhood!

You may have a question about an animal or other subject that you could find the answer to in a book at the library. After you have found your answer, include it in your journal along with the bookss title and author.

Don’t feel that you have to stick to objective observations. Include a funny thing that happened, your feelings or your thoughts, maybe even write a poem or a song. The most interesting reading later on tend to be the author’s reaction. The next great scientific find may start with your thoughts!

Pictures

So, you are no Leonardo or Picasso, fear not! Check out the book The Voyage of Beagle by Charles Darwin. You may agree that many of the pictures in his journal were not great works of art. They weren’t meant to be. Most drawings are used as reminders on how something looked. Drawings are essential, especially when you need to remember exactly what color the stripes were, or how long the tail was.

Don’t forget to illustrate landscapes and habitats. Include sections of trail maps, and draw your own maps. Pictures may also be used to describe animal behavior and movements.

Photographs are also helpful. I take my digital camera with me on outings. Print small pictures on photo paper and glue them directly to journal pages. Use picture safe glue or archive safe photo tape (found in the scrapbook aisle in your local arts and crafts store).

Check out more nature journaling online at RattlerJen’s Den